


Taste Your Season

by AryaxJaqen



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Jaqarya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 17:56:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16045616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AryaxJaqen/pseuds/AryaxJaqen
Summary: Modern AU. King's Landing sucks. Jaqen rocks :) :)





	Taste Your Season

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy your autumn lovely people ! <3  
> I own nothing. Jaqen belongs to GRRM. Thank you the Many Books God for creating him !

Autumn in Winterfell was simply the best. Arya loved moody grey sky and cool wind, crisp air and red leaves. It was the time for chunky sweaters and chasing around the park with Rickon and Nymeria. The time for late night talks by the fireplace and falling asleep to the sound of rain. And the smells ! Smoke and sunflowers, mum's gingerbread cookies and pumpkin spice coffee with cinnamon and cloves.

In King's Landing they didn't get autumn at all.

No foggy mornings and crunchy leaves, no clouds, not even pumpkin spice latte !

Only sun, sun, sun.

King's Landing couldn't be worse.

The streets were way too crowded. College sucked. Arya was smaller than everyone else, she looked like a child next to all those tall Westerosi girls and her northern fashion sense made her invisible to all guys. Back at home she used to practice fencing with Jory and Lyanna Mormont but in King's Landing fencing wasn't a popular sport at all. Arya Stark was just a little northern weirdo with a sword.

It was another lonely Friday afternoon. The little weirdo had just finished her fencing lesson with the only sensible teacher she'd found in the south, and wandered aimlessly through the streets of that stupid city. No one, what a surprise, bothered to invite her to any of the countless parties in the campus. Arya Stark had only one friend, Needle, her precious sword.

Arya turned into a narrow street with red maples growing on either side. It was a rare view in King's Landing, the real trees not the palms that grew everywhere. She sighed with relief, finally some shade ! She looked around and spotted a small cafe. _Black and White Cafe_ she read black letters neatly painted on a white background. Something told her it was the right place to hang around and pity herself through the rest of the day.

She was just about to open the door when a big, angry guy stormed out of the building. She had to jump back or the guy would have stomped all over her. Arya creased her brows. She truly was invisible !

She found herself in a small and rather dark interior with lots of pictures on the walls. Arya thought those were the photographs of the Westerosi celebrities but she couldn't recognize any of the faces.

The place was empty but the two young men eating their dinner. One had a ridiculously small nose and the other had strange tattoos on his arms and calves. They eyed her head to toe when she dropped into a seat at the small table near the window.

 

'What a nice stick !'

 

The small nosed one reached out his greasy hand to grab Needle but Arya was faster.

 

'Ouch !'

 

She put the Needle back on the chair beside her.

 

'It's not a stick !' She said firmly. 'It's a sword !'

 

He rubbed his hand.

 

'I only wanted to take a look at it !'

 

'You should have asked nicely !'

 

'Are they bothering you, lovely girl ?'

 

A tall, handsome dude materialized by her table. He was the youngest of the three, slender and fine featured. His long hair was shiny red with white streaks on one side. He was wearing black jeans, white shirt and black apron.

 

'Have a care Lorath !' The small nosed one complained. 'She'll hit you with her stick !'

 

'A man begs forgiveness.' He inclined his head and smiled at her. 'These two, they lack courtesy.'

 

'It's not a stick !' Arya informed him.

 

He smiled at her friendly.

 

'This man has the honor to be Jaqen H'ghar, once of the free city of Lorath. You're called... ?'

 

'Arya. I'm Arya Stark.'

 

'Having a bad day, Arya ?'

 

Arya bit her lip. Was it really that obvious ?

 

'Kid had a bad day at school !' The tattooed guy announced all-knowingly.

 

'Those whiny highschoolers.' The other rolled his eyes. 'They're the worst !'

 

'I'm in college !' Arya explained exasperated.

 

'A man knows.' The one who called himself Jaqen H'ghar winked. His eyes dropped to her blouse with the proud name of the Royal Academy of Drama printed across her chest.

 

'Oh. And what are you doing, Jaqen ?'

 

She felt stupid the moment the words left her mouth. Obviously he was working at the Black and White Cafe.

 

He leaned slightly forward and looked her deep in the eyes.

 

'Waiting for you, Arya.' She felt she was blushing. 'To tell me what you want.'

 

'Come on Lorath !' The one with the small nose laughed.'Tell her what we're really doing, don't be shy !'

 

The Lorathi straightened back up and grinned, nodding his head in their direction.

 

'I play in the band with these beasts. Rorge plays rhythm guitar.' He introduced the small nosed one and gestured at the other guy. 'And Biter plays bass.'

 

'Oh.' Arya repeated eloquently. 'And you ?'

 

'Lead guitar and vocal. You know, Arya, we're looking for a drummer. Gendry left due to...' He smirked. 'Artistic differences. Perhaps lovely girl would like to try ?'

 

Arya shook her head.

 

'I can't play drums.'

 

'That skinny little thing ?' Rorge mocked.'Feed her, Lorath !'

 

Biter offered Arya a slice of his pizza. It smelled good but she pushed his hand away. She didn't need to be reminded she was small and skinny. Especially not when this red haired Jaqen was looking at her.

 

'What can a man offer this girl ?'

 

'Nothing !' Arya furrowed her brows. 'I wish I was home !'

 

'And where is home, Arya ?'

 

Her name sounded almost softly the way he spoke it. Maybe it was his Lorathi accent, maybe it was his deep velvety voice.

 

'Winterfell !' She said proudly. 'It's in the north.'

 

'It must be beautiful this time of the year.' Jaqen said politely. 'Far in the north.'

 

'It is ! Leaves are changing colors ! They turn to all shades of fire !' Arya noticed his eyes sparkled with interest and she felt she had just found her kindred spirit. 'We have beautiful parks with lots of weirwood trees. You can spend all day in the park with your dog. Dogs love jumping into piles of leaves !' Arya loved jumping as much as Nymeria did but she thought it would be best not to mention it. 'And we have pumpkin spice coffee with cinnamon and cloves.'

 

'A man thinks a girl misses her home. And her dog.'

 

'How do you know ?' She raised her brows. She never told him about Nymeria !

 

Jaqen smiled disarmingly. He smiled a lot.

 

'A man will see what can be done.'

 

He left her and Arya realized she didn't tell him what she wanted.

 

'Lady Stark wants her fancy coffee !' Biter chuckled.

 

'Let it go, Biter !' Rorge sighed theatrically. 'Lady Stark's too good for us ! She won't even look at you !'

 

They laughed and mumbled something about Lorathi guys having big effect on pretty northern girls but Arya ignored them. She was still angry that they had called her a skinny kid in front of that Jaqen guy. _Jaqen._ A strange name but nice. His hair looked like weirwood, red and white. _Red like fire_ she thought _white like ice_.

She closed her eyes and imagined endless grey skies. She could almost feel cool wind on her face and red leaves crunching under her feet. She could almost feel the smell of pumpkin spice latte with cinnamon and cloves.

Rorge and Biter stopped talking and in the dead silence she heard someone clearing a throat.

Arya opened her eyes. Jaqen put coffee in front of her and she heard that velvet voice speaking again.

 

'Taste your season, Arya Stark.'

 

Arya stared at the tall black mug. Her pumpkin latte smelled heavenly, the rich autumn aroma she'd missed so much. The cream topping was decorated with the image of a wolf pup howling at the moon. Arya Stark smiled genuinely for the first time since she came to King's Landing.

She raised her head to thank her new friend but he was already gone. As soon as he had vanished the two guys regained their composure.

 

'Damn, Biter, look at that ! Lorath got himself a girlfriend !'

 

'My girlfriend is so lovely !' Biter put his arms around himself, making a kissing sound. 'My girlfriend is so sweet !'

 

'I can't play tonight.' Rorge put a hand on his heart. 'I must make coffee for my lady of Stark !'

 

Arya lowered her face and bit her lip hard. This time to stop herself from grinning.

 

_King's Landing might not be so bad._


End file.
